


Moving Up, Moving On

by sunshineflying



Category: One Direction (Band), Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, New York City, Non-Famous Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 13:39:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13459407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshineflying/pseuds/sunshineflying
Summary: Louis Tomlinson ran away to New York to escape his troubles. Alec Lightwood has a broken heart and just wants to escape the Institute for a while. After literally running into each other on the sidewalk of New York, the two forge a strange bond - but can Alec really tolerate a Mundane? And can Louis deal with all the secrets of the Shadow World?[written/set after 2x18 in the Shadowhunters TV series]





	Moving Up, Moving On

**Author's Note:**

> So, a crossover nobody asked for but is getting anyway because Louis and Matthew Daddario would look beautiful together (height difference!) and I'm intrigued by Alec growing used to the Mundane world and being a little better with them.
> 
> Many thanks to Isa for reading this over for me. Also thank you to anyone who muddles through this. For those who don't know the Shadowhunters series/haven't watched or read it, here are some useful inks for you:
> 
> Weapons: http://shadowhunters.wikia.com/wiki/Weapons  
> Lightwood family: http://shadowhunters.wikia.com/wiki/Lightwood_family
> 
> I recommend searching through that wiki if there's anything else you need clarification on, as well.

“You can’t hide away forever, you know.”

Alec is sitting in his room in the Institute - all dark greens and blacks, barely lived in now that he’d gotten used to filling up space in Magnus’s apartment instead. Izzy stands in the doorway, leaning against the frame, her hips curved outward and a knowing look on her face. “You have no idea what I’m going through,” Alec snaps.

Izzy doesn’t even flinch. She’s used to Alec being brash towards her when he’s in a bad mood. It’s something she’s dealt with her entire life. She stands up tall and crosses her arms. “You could talk about it,” she suggests.

Alec doesn’t even dignify that with a response.

Izzy smiles knowingly and walks into the room, glancing at him as she takes a seat on the edge of the bed next to her brother. It’s clear that he’s hurting; he’s lost a lot in the last forty-eight hours. They’d almost lost their brother, and he  _ had _ lost his place as Head of the New York Institute, and on top of all of that, Magnus had said he needed to leave Alec, to look out for his own kind.

In a theoretical sense, Alec understands. He messed up so it’s only natural that they’d give his place as the Head of the Institute to his father. And he lied to Magnus and Magnus has to look out for his own kind, so getting dumped makes sense, too. But it doesn’t mean he feels any better.

“Look,” Izzy tries again. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get rid of Valentine and Sebastian once and for all, and then you and Magnus are going to get your happily ever after.”

Alec rolls his eyes. He sighs heavily and says, “That was never in the cards for us to begin with.”

Confused, Izzy furrows a brow and asks, “Why not?”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but he’s immortal.”

“Yeah, so?” Izzy challenges.

“I’m not.”

Alec looks at Izzy blankly, like it’s the easiest thing in the world to understand, and he can’t figure out why Izzy doesn’t seem to get it. She smiles at him, a look of fondness on her face, and replies, “I don’t think that would stop him from spending every moment of your life with you.”

“Yeah, well, something has, so…”

Izzy opens her mouth to say something irritating or full of false encouragement, Alec is sure, but before she can get another word out, Clary is in the doorway to his room. She’s frantic, her hair a mess, and she’s out of breath as she says, “It’s an emergency. Demon attack down on the shore, by the shipyard. We need to go.”

The conversation ends there and Alec is immeasurably grateful for it. He races out of the room with Izzy, and they make a detour through the weapons room with Jace and Clary so Alec can retrieve his bow and quiver. He could use a good demon battle to take his mind off of things.

On their way to the shipyards, Alec can feel Jace and Clary watching him with concerned gazes. They know what happened, and Jace especially knows how much it’s probably hurting Alec. He can feel it thanks to the parabatai rune, but not as intensely. And if he’s only feeling a fraction of what Alec is, then Alec is definitely hurting deeply. They need to talk, but Alec is pointedly avoiding him. He’s avoiding all conversation that isn’t about the battle at hand.

It’s a difficult one - a new demon that he hasn’t seen before. It’s fast, but thankfully his arrows are faster. He manages to injure the demon enough so that Jace can drive a seraph blade through the demon’s chest.

Alec stands, boots full of sand and his face covered in damp sweat, as he watches the demon dissipate into thin air. He wipes away the sweat from his brow, not realizing that he’s streaked blood on his face in the process. His hands are raw, since he’d forgotten his gloves at the Institute. He must’ve shot off more arrows than he’d expected. Rather than using an  _ iratze _ , he just leaves his hand bloody and sore, and wraps his bow around his shoulders. He’s ready to go, still full of self-loathing.

Izzy is inspecting the remnants left behind by the demon, but Alec has no desire to figure out what it was. He’s done with his entire day, purely because of exhaustion and sadness. Jace senses it and walks towards Alec, but Alec doesn’t give Jace the opportunity to speak. Alec doesn’t want pity, doesn’t want any comfort. He got himself into every bit of misfortune he’s been dealt. He doesn’t feel he deserves sympathy.

Jace follows Alec up the shore, but when he realizes Alec isn’t going to look back or give him the time of day, he sighs and stops in his tracks. Alec will talk when he’s ready.

Alec waits until he’s away from the shore and at the edge of the city before he stops off at a bench to empty the sand from his boots. His hand aches, blood dried onto his palm, his fingertips raw and sore. He doesn’t bother trying to clean up; he puts his boots on and decides to only glamour his weapon as he wanders the streets of the city.

He walks until he spots a familiar bridge; the Brooklyn Bridge. Many a time he’d walked across this under a glamour, on his way to Magnus’s apartment. He’d walked this path more times than he could count at this point in his life, and for what? Had he wasted all that time on a relationship that was doomed from the start?

Alec shoves his hands in his pockets as he trudges across the bridge, one of hundreds of people wandering in the same patch of New York City. It’s a comfort to him, knowing he’s surrounded by hundreds of people but not a single person is going to bother him or try to talk to him.

A shorter man walks past him and runs right into him, his shoulder hitting harshly against Alec’s sore arm. Alec hisses in pain and turns on the sidewalk. The man turns too, to look at who he’d run into, and for a moment, neither of them speaks. The shorter man looks young, probably a couple of years younger than Alec, if he had to guess. He was clearly a mundane based on the look he had on his face at Alec’s runes. He looks a mixture of scared and concerned, and it’s not an expression Alec is used to seeing.

Rather than an apology or feigned ignorance, the gentleman asks, “Oh god, are you alright?”

He’s got a faint accent, though he hasn’t spoken quite enough for Alec to identify from where he’s come. If he had to guess, he’d say somewhere in England or Australia. “I’m fine,” Alec says brusquely.

“You’re all bloodied up,” the man observes. “You’re not fine at all.”

Alec sighs. “Really, it’s not a big deal.”

“It  _ is _ ,” the man frowns. “At least come to mine and get cleaned up, so nobody suspects you of killing someone.”

Alec wants to laugh; if only this guy knew the number of times Alec has killed. “Look, I appreciate it, but we’re really not in that dangerous of a city, despite what you might have heard,” Alec says. “Besides, you don’t know me. Maybe I  _ did _ kill someone.”

Rather than getting scared, as Alec had hoped he would, the man just smirks and says, “Well if that’s the case, come tell me about it. I’ll make you a cuppa.”

“A cup of what?”

“Just - come on,” he nods. “And I’m Louis, by the way. Now if you tell me  _ your _ name, we’ll know each other, and this won’t be weird.”

_ It’s still going to be weird _ , Alec thinks to himself. It’s always weird because he’s uncomfortable around other people as a general rule - especially Mundanes. This one, though - he’s persistent. And maybe it’s the breakup or the coddling from his sister but Alec would very much like to escape the Shadowhunter world for a bit. Get attention that isn’t because of one of his many fuck-ups. And this guy -  _ Louis _ \- seems like the best way to get that. It helps that he’s handsome, too.

“Fine,” Alec huffs. “I’m Alec.”

“There, was that so bad?” Louis asks, his smirk growing as he tugs on the sleeve of Alec’s shirt, prodding him down the street.

“Yes. This is weird.”

“ _ You’re _ weird.”

Alec doesn’t know what to say to that.

*

Louis has a small apartment in Brooklyn, though nothing nearly as nice as Magnus’s loft. It only has one room, and the bed isn’t even on a bed frame, it’s just a mattress tossed on the floor in the corner amongst various pieces of clothing, a few suitcases, and a lamp that’s standing on a haphazard stack of books. It’s the least glamorous place Alec could have imagined.

He realizes vaguely that he’s still got his weapons on him, but he has no plans to stay, so he leaves them on and hidden. “It's not much,” Louis says, gesturing to his tiny living space with an armchair, a garish floral-print sofa that's likely older than both of them, and another stack of books holding a few empty teacups. “But it's home.”

“Where are you from?”

Alec has zero tact, but Louis rolls with it quite nicely all things considered. He smiles, bemused at the fact that Alec is showing interest in him, and replies, “Doncaster. It's in England. Northern part.”

“Why'd you come to New York?”

Louis's smile fades at that; the lack of tact isn't quite as well met with that question. “Ah, well, that's a story for another day, innit?”

Alec raises an eyebrow critically as he studies Louis and tries to make sense of him. He's a Mundane unlike Alec has ever met before. “I'm not staying,” Alec warns.

Louis’s coy smile returns. “Who said I wanted you to?” he counters.

Yet again Alec is rendered speechless by Louis's wit. He can't keep up with the banter, not like he can with Jace or Izzy. “Let's just get you cleaned up and we’ll go from there, yeah?” Louis suggests, an odd look on his face. It's like he's trying to read Alec, to understand him, but it's impossible.

Alec is suddenly conscious of his weapons again, and he hesitates for a moment before he asks, “Uh, where's your bathroom?”

“Loo’s right around the corner there, by the room. Do your thing and I'll grab the first aid kit,” Louis replies.

For such a haphazard apartment, it's surprising to Alec that Louis would have a first aid kit just lying around. Alec awkwardly rounds the corner and frantically searches for somewhere to stash his bow and quiver. There aren't many hiding places in what appears to be a 400 square foot apartment. He eventually finds a spot behind Louis's door, where he's got some jackets hanging on a hook. Alec hangs them behind the jackets, thankful that the weather is still warm. 

He goes into the bathroom and flushes the toilet just to make sure Louis doesn't suspect anything, and as he washes his hands, Alec thinks vaguely that hanging his bow and quiver up in the flat implies he's staying. Which he's definitely not. Not with a mundane.

“You good?” Louis asks from the other side of the door.

Alec opens the door without speaking, and Louis looks up at him, surprised at the quick movement. The bathroom doesn't really have room for two people, but Louis coaxes Alec into sitting on the closed toilet lid anyway. He's got an old first aid kit, something he probably brought across the pond with him. 

Very gently, Louis dabs a damp cloth over Alec’s forehead. As he washes away the blood, he notices that there's no scrape. “Where'd the blood come from?” Louis asks. He looks the slightest bit fearful as he asks, “Did you  _ actually _ kill someone?”

Alec keeps a blank face as he says, “I told you, you shouldn't bring strangers home.”

For a moment, Alec wonders if Louis is going to call the police, but something in him can't keep Louis this scared and worried. He holds up his right hand and shows him the blistered, raw fingertips of his right hand. Louis visibly relaxes before he grabs some rubbing alcohol and starts to dab at the scrapes. “What did you do?” Louis asks. He's never seen an injury quite like this.

Alec looks up with the faintest trace of amusement on his face as he says, “That's a story for another day, isn't it?”

Alec is rather proud of himself for using Louis's own words against him, and Louis smiles even though he's just the slightest bit annoyed by the response. However, he doesn't want to push. Alec is the first company Louis has had since coming to New York, and he doesn't see Louis as a charity case. He hasn't judged him once.

Louis decides to change the topic, asking in a singsong voice, “How about a drink?”

“Yes please.”

Liquor. That’s something Alec can understand and appreciate. He’s still wary of this stranger, especially because he’s never interacted this much with a Mundane before, but Louis is handsome and Alec is pulled to him in a strange way. He feels a bit like he’s cheating on Magnus, which is ridiculous because  _ Magnus _ dumped  _ him. _

Louis leads Alec back into the tiny living room and gestures vaguely for him to take a seat while he disappears into the smallest of kitchenettes. Alec looks around at the rather empty room - tiny TV, stacks of books and DVDs everywhere, a video game console… everything was incredibly bland and told Alec absolutely nothing about Louis. Louis rummages around in the kitchen for a moment and wanders out, a bottle in each hand. He holds them by the necks of the bottles and lifts them up on display one by one. “Well, I’ve got shit vodka or shit rum,” he says.

“I’ll take the shit vodka,” Alec says, reaching out for it.

Louis hands it over, and twists off the cap of the shit rum. “I’ll take the shit rum, then,” Louis replies.

He plops down on the sofa next to Alec and holds out his bottle in toast. Alec, rather hesitantly, toasts with his own bottle. Then, they each take a swig. Alec winces; he hadn’t realized just how spoiled he was, drinking all the expensive things Magnus bought or made for him. The vodka is absolutely vile, and he tries his best to hold back a gag. Louis is pulling a face at the rum, too, and after they compose themselves, Louis asks, “So, Alec. What is it you do?”

*

“You’re sure he didn’t tell you  _ anything _ about where he was going?”

Izzy is pestering Jace, cornering him in his room at the Institute after he brushed her off the entire trip home from the shore where they’d fought off the demon. Clary is sitting at his desk sketching, trying to mind her own business, and wishing that Izzy would leave so she and Jace could be alone again.

“I told you, Izzy, I have absolutely no idea where Alec is,” Jace repeats. He feels like he’s told her so at least a dozen times. He probably has. “But I  _ can  _ tell you that he’s not hurt.”

“How do you know?” Izzy asks tensely.

Jace sighs. “If he was hurt, I’d feel it. We’re parabatai, remember?”

Izzy crosses her arms and frowns. “I know, but he’s been hurting for days. Haven’t you been feeling that?”

“Yes. And whatever he’s doing or wherever he is, he’s better than he was yesterday,” Jace says. “It doesn’t ache as much. He’s found a way to deal with the pain - shouldn’t we just let him have that?”

“Just like I found a way to deal with my demon wound with yin fen?” Izzy challenges him.

Jace puts down the book he’d been attempting to read, and stands up to face Izzy full on. “I get that you’re worried about him. I am, too. But why can’t we just let him have this? It’s only one night, and whatever he’s doing, it’s helping. Tomorrow we’ll try to call him and go from there,” Jace bargains. “I promise - if I feel anything change - if I notice he’s gotten worse - I’ll tell you right away, and we can go find him. But for now, let’s just hang out, okay?”

“Alec is strong, even when he’s upset,” Clary chimes in. She looks over her shoulder at Izzy. “He’s going to be fine.”

Frustrated with both Clary and Jace, Izzy huffs and stomps out of Jace’s room, her high heels clicking on the floorboards. Alec is  _ missing _ . He won’t answer her phone calls, he’s in a bad place mentally and emotionally, and Izzy has a really bad feeling about the whole situation. Alec has never disappeared like this before. When he’s upset, he wallows, but usually not far from the Institute, just in case they need him. Nothing about this situation is familiar for her, and she can’t wait around all night to see if he’s alright.

Izzy would rather not do the hunt for Alec alone, though, so she pulls out her phone to try to call in reinforcements from elsewhere. First she dials Simon, but gets no answer. As a last resort, she dials Maia, but it’s not surprising that Maia doesn’t answer. 

“Fine,” Izzy mumbles as she walks down the hall. “I’ll have to do it myself.” She’s about to walk into her room when she notices that the door to Alec’s room is cracked open just a bit. She can see inside, and sees his pajamas from the night before strewn over his bed. 

Very slowly, Izzy creeps in. She walks closer to the bed until she can pick up the shirt. It’s a plain black tee shirt, absolutely nothing special about it. But there’s the slightest chance that Alec didn’t deactivate his tracking rune, which means he can be found. Izzy closes her eyes, clutching the shirt tightly, and hopes that something happens.

*

Alec wakes with a start, the sound of a bang somewhere in the apartment pulling him from his slumber. He sits up, wincing because his back hadn’t really liked sleeping on Louis’s old couch. Which. He’d said he wasn’t going to sleep at Louis’s place and yet here he was. They were near perfect strangers, and yet he was sleeping over? 

Realizing that it’s the middle of the night, Alec takes a moment to pause and figure out what’s happening. He’s drunk - buzzed? - the effects of the vodka slowly wearing off by this point. He’s sore, and his tracking rune isn’t deactivated anymore. Alec glances around the room and when he’s satisfied that Louis isn’t there, he pulls out his stele and deactivates his tracking rune again. He’s not ready to be found.

With a sigh, Alec wanders from the sofa to the tiny bathroom, only tripping over three things on his way. He doesn’t know what the sound had been that woke him, but he’s sure he could fall asleep again soon if he wanted. He hears the soft hum of something - he can’t figure out what - and the sound is coming from Louis’s bedroom.

The door is open just a crack, so Alec tries to peek in and see. Louis looks asleep, but his television is on, a little thing on the floor showing some late-night cartoon type thing. Alec presses on the door just the tiniest bit, curious at what’s on the screen, and the door creaks. Louis looks up instantly, wide awake.

Alec steps back, wincing, hoping Louis thinks it was just a tick of the ratty old apartment. “I heard you in the loo, Alec. I know you’re there,” Louis says. His voice is still slurred. How much did they drink?

Resigned, Alec presses the door open and stands awkwardly in the doorway. “Sorry the couch isn’t that comfy,” Louis says, scooting to one side of his mattress. “Can’t say my bed’s any better but you can crash here if you want. At least you won’t have to twist up into a ball in here.”

He gestures behind him, to the area of mattress between himself and the wall. Alec hesitates, but he has nowhere else to go, not really. He kicks off his boots and wanders stocking-footed over to Louis’s bed, crouching down to crawl onto the space Louis made for him. “I’m watching Adult Swim, that alright with you?” Louis asks. “I can shut it off if it’s too loud.”

“No, it’s fine,” Alec insists. He yawns and sprawls out on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Louis hadn’t been asleep, and he still looks wide awake. Alec wonders if it’s for any reason in particular, or if Louis is just a late night kind of guy. Instead of asking, Alec just takes a deep breath and says, “Thanks for letting me stay.”

“Even though you said you wouldn’t?” Louis teases.

Alec smiles, and he can see through the shadows that Louis is, too. Alec falls asleep to the sound of a strange TV show and Louis’s steady breathing, and it’s the best night of sleep he’s had in weeks.

He wakes to the sound of his phone buzzing in his pocket, the phone wedged between his leg and the wall so the vibration noise is extra loud. “Shut it off,” Louis groans, rolling onto his back.

It’s only once Louis is on his back that Alec realizes Louis had been using his shoulder as a pillow before that. It had felt so familiar, he hadn’t thought twice about it. Alec reaches into his pocket; he’s surprised his phone even has battery charge left. It’s down to 7%, and the phone call is from Izzy, so Alec decides to just switch off his phone. He doesn’t feel like talking to them yet.

“Sorry,” Alec says groggily.

Louis grumbles something unintelligible in response. They lie there, both of them on their back, side by side on Louis’s mattress in his room, and it’s both incredibly awkward but incredibly familiar at the same time. 

“What time is it?” Louis asks.

Alec had only vaguely looked at the time, so he replies, “Ten something? I don’t know, I turned my phone off.”

“Who was trying to call you?”

“My sister.”

Louis looks over at Alec, who keeps staring up at the ceiling. “You didn’t want to talk to your sister?” Louis asks.

“Not right now, no,” Alec replies, his tone very curt and short.

Louis frowns. He rolls onto his side and props himself up on his elbow. Alec can feel Louis’s eyes boring into him, studying everything about him, and it’s clear he has lots of questions. The true test is whether Alec will actually answer them this time. The night before, when they’d started drinking, Alec shut down any conversation that was even remotely personal. He didn’t want to open up to Louis too much, to share his secrets with the world.

Instead of quizzing him, Louis just says, “I understand how you feel. My sister was the same way when I first moved out here. She would call me or text me constantly, because she didn’t believe me when I said I was okay.”

Alec is quiet. He tries to resist the urge he has to look at Louis, to make sure he’s telling the truth. What Louis is describing - it’s what Alec feels. And he hadn’t expected to be able to relate to a Mundane. When their eyes meet, Louis’s gaze is warm and nonjudgmental. There’s even the faintest trace of a smile on his lips. Something in Alec’s face must give away everything happening in his head, because Louis looks satisfied, and he climbs out of bed, announcing that it’s time for some coffee.

Slowly, Alec follows Louis out of his room and back to the grungy kitchen. His clothes are all wrinkled from sleeping in them, and he doesn’t know what’s next. All Alec knows is that he still doesn’t feel ready to go back to the Institute - not when it feels so good to run away from all of his problems and hide away in the Mundane world for a little while. If only his younger self could see him now.

Louis puts on a pot of coffee and then hops up on the counter, sitting so he’s facing Alec. His feet dangle and he keeps everything so calm and casual. Alec wonders how anyone could ever be so relaxed; he’s never felt that relaxed in his life, except for maybe once or twice with Magnus.

And there he is again, thinking about Magnus when all he wants to do is get over him. But he’s easy to get rid of, a very disposable person, and the thought permeates his mind. “I guess I should like… go?” Alec says awkwardly. “I’ve imposed enough. We don’t even know each other.”

“Don’t we?” Louis asks. “We know each other’s names, and that we have things back home we’d rather not go back to…” Louis trails off. “I’m not kicking you out. Stay for coffee, at least?”

Alec frowns. “Why do you trust me?”

Louis shrugs. “Maybe I’m just reckless,” he says. It’s something he’s been told many times by friends and family. That he’s too reckless. Too trusting. “I figure if you were gonna kill me, it would have happened last night. You didn’t, so we’re here, and we’re… halfway to friends or something like that, so like… at least have some coffee before you disappear.”

As much as Alec would rather not, in the end he nods and accepts the warm cup of coffee Louis pours for him. They sit in semi-awkward silence, both of their minds reeling with millions of things they  _ could _ say, but don’t want to say. Eventually, Louis asks, “What are you doing today?”

Alec looks up in slight surprise. “I…” he trails off. He hadn’t actually put together a plan for himself. “I don’t know.”

Louis tries to sound casual as he says, “Well if you had no plans and didn’t want to go back to whatever it is you’re running away from,” he takes a sip of his coffee and pointedly doesn’t look Alec in the eye. “You could come with me. I’m new here and going to do a tourist day. See the sights.”

Alec raises an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. Times Square? The World Trade Center building?” Louis replies.

“Those are boring and full of Mu-,” he hesitates, correcting his language so he doesn’t accidentally give away the whole Shadow World, “- tourists taking pictures. They’re not actually  _ looking _ . If you want to see the sights, go off the beaten path a little,” Alec says, getting rather passionate about the topic. “If you go to the usual places, you’ll get slowed down with stupid tourists and their stupid cameras and their stupid screaming kids.”

Louis raises an eyebrow. Alec is rather fired up. “Don’t like children, huh?” he asks.

Alec deflates. “It’s not that. Kids are fine. I’m bad with them, but I don’t hate them,” he says. “Stupid people just bother me.”

Louis laughs. That is something Louis had gathered about Alec from the moment they’d met: the look on his face when they’d bumped into each other said exactly that. “What’s so funny?” Alec asks defensively.

“Nothing,” Louis shakes his head. “So you never said - are you coming with me?”

“Well I have to, now,” Alec says. “Can’t have you wasting your time seeing useless towers.”

More laughter falls from Louis’s mouth and Alec finds himself feeling rather proud of being able to make someone laugh. “Alright, well, if we’re going out, I need a shower. As do you. And none of my clothes will fit you, so you might have to face reality enough to go get a change of clothes.”

“I’ll just buy more,” Alec shrugs. “No big deal.”

Louis’s face does something Alec can’t read when he hears Alec’s solution, and Alec is left to dwell on it the entire time he hears Louis in the shower. He plays every moment with Louis over and over in his head, and he wonders how such a simple answer could matter so much. The more his eyes drift over the apartment, though, the more he realizes how much of an ass he was. How used to new, pretty things Magnus had made him. Louis didn’t seem like the guy who has ever had that sort of luxury.

Deciding to try to do something nice for Louis to compensate, Alec disappears into the kitchen. He busies himself gathering dishes together, grumbling about how unbelievably messy Louis is, how he should at least  _ rinse things off _ , but in the end, Alec is putting the last clean dish away as Louis wanders out with damp hair, a plain white tee shirt on with some skinny jeans and ratted sneakers.

“...what’s going on here?” Louis asks.

Alec spins around and shrugs. He feels incredibly stupid now that he’s actually faced with explaining himself, because it’s all so stupid and cheesy. “I was sort of a jerk, so…”

“So you washed my dishes for me?” Louis asks, starting to grin in a way that makes Alec think he’s about to be mocked.

Alec scowls and Louis’s smile drops. “Sorry. Thank you. I appreciate it,” Louis says earnestly. 

Nodding, Alec gestures awkwardly at the door. “Should we go?” he asks.

“Sure,” Louis nods. “Let’s get you those new clothes, huh?” he says a bit wistfully. “Help you escape your problems or whatever it is you need to do.”

Together, they leave the apartment, Alec following Louis and wondering just what the hell he’s gotten himself into.

*

Izzy is in the worst mood Jace has ever seen, and he’s seen her bad side a lot. She looks awful, like she didn’t sleep, and whenever anyone tries to talk to her, she snaps at them in response. Jace, ever the wise one, opts to not say anything at all, unlike Simon and Clary, who both got their figurative heads bitten off by Izzy within seconds of opening their mouths. Now they’re watching her nervously as she stands in the command center of the Institute, looking desperately at the map projected in front of her. 

“What happened last night doesn’t make any sense at all,” she says, thinking out loud but not wanting anyone else to respond. “I got all the way to here,” she says, pointing to the Brooklyn Bridge, “Before I suddenly couldn’t track him anymore.”

“Maybe he deactivated his tracking rune while you were trying to track him,” Clary timidly suggests.

“Yeah but why would he do that in the middle of the night? He’s not Head of the Institute anymore, he can go back to sleeping through the night,” Izzy says. “I know my brother. Before he was in charge, he had a very rigid daily routine, and he was never awake that late.”

“You tried to catch him in a moment of weakness?” Simon asks, a little shocked. “That’s kind of low, Izzy. I mean - if he’s hidden, it’s probably for good reason.”

Jace sighs and says, “I keep telling you - it feels like he’s better.”

“You can sense his moods through your parabatai rune?” Clary asks. She’d known they had a connection, and that it was important in times of battle, but hadn’t thought fully about what that meant outside of battle.

With a nod, Jace explains, “When he left us after the battle yesterday he was still hurting, but sometime between then and now, he’s found something or someone that takes that pain away.”

Izzy rolls her eyes and stomps her stilettos on the floor as she turns to face Jace. “And how do we know he’s not getting into yin fen or something equally as bad?” she challenges.

“Izzy -,” Clary chimes in.

Simon holds up a finger in Izzy’s defense and says, “She does have a point. If he were high off of something, or caught up in something bad, but that was meant to make you feel good… that could give Jace the same vibe as him  _ actually _ being happy, right?”

Jace looks affronted that Simon would suddenly side with Izzy. He quite liked having Clary and Simon on his side, even if Simon really irritated him.

“Didn’t you say the rune was leading you across the Brooklyn Bridge?” Clary asks, trying to break the tension. Izzy nods. Clary is hesitant before she suggests, “Maybe he went to see Magnus. Maybe they’re making up.”

Jace sits up a little straighter. It’s the most obvious answer, and yet none of them had come up with it. “Call him,” Jace instructs Izzy.

“Why call? He could lie, say Alec isn’t there,” Simon argues.

“Or he won’t answer. He hasn’t been since we fought off those demons yesterday,” Izzay snaps.

Izzy looks at Jace, Clary, and Simon. “Well,” she sighs. “I guess we’re making a trip to Brooklyn, then.”

*

Midday finds Alec and Louis walking along the edge of Central Park, a cliche move if there ever was one, but Alec ensured that they found some good food for lunch. Louis was a little surprised at the fact that Alec chose a food cart that looked as though it was last cleaned back in the 90’s, but it had the best hot dogs he’d ever eaten so he wasn’t going to complain.

Alec looked better, more relaxed, now that he was wearing new clothes. They’d stopped at a secondhand store, which really surprised Louis. He’d bought fresh black jeans and a plain old black sweater, and he’d barely spent ten dollars. He’d been quick to judge Alec, and he’d been wrong. That had Louis trying extra hard to have a good day with this strange man he’d met the day before. He was clearly running from something, and that was something Louis could relate to on a level so deep he didn’t want to talk about it, ever. 

They finish their food as they walk into the park, and Alec purposely steers Louis away from the tourist traps of Central Park. He’s pointing out some markers in the ground from the original 1811 plotting of the city when they’re interrupted. There’s a group of elderly women sitting on a bench together, all four of them staring at Alec and Louis together. “You two are a lovely couple,” says one.

They all smile and nod in agreement. “We’re on your side!” says another, meaning well but sounding quite silly in her sentiment.

Alec opens his mouth and is about to correct the women, but then there’s a hand in his and he can smell Louis, feel his warmth, and the words get lost before they leave his mouth. Louis leans closer to Alec, holding his hand as he looks at the women and says, “Thank you.”

He smiles, ever so charming, and that’s that. Louis keeps his hold on Alec’s hand even as they continue walking, at least while they’re in the women’s line of sight. When they’re out of earshot, Alec asks, “Why did you let them think that?”

Louis notices that for how confused Alec sounds, he’s not sliding his hand away from Louis’s. They’re still hand in hand, walking through the park. Louis shrugs and says, “I don’t know.”

“Are you gay?” Alec asks.

It’s hard for Louis to read the tone of Alec’s voice, so he slides his hand away. He hadn’t even considered the fact that Alec could be homophobic. “I’m… whatever,” Louis replies noncommittally.

Alec sighs and stops in his tracks on the sidewalk. Louis walks a couple of strides before he stops. He doesn’t turn to face Alec, but figures that he’s waiting for a real answer. “Bisexual, actually,” Louis says as he turns on his heel. “Let me guess, you’re not into that?”

Alec looks confused. “You can’t tell?”

“Tell what?”

“That I’m gay.”

Louis stares for a moment. He’s going to need a little more clarification. “It’s just - my ex. He was  _ so sure _ I was gay. I’m pretty sure he knew before I did, actually,” Alec explains. “And nobody in my family other than my parents were surprised when I told them, so I just assumed it was obvious to everyone but me.”

“Well it’s not,” Louis replies.

“But now you know, so.”

Louis nods, and it takes a moment before he replies with a stilted, “Yeah. I guess so.”

They start to walk down the sidewalk again, this time with a little less space between them than before, even if they’re not holding hands anymore.

Alec and Louis end the day at a hole-in-the-wall pub near Louis’s apartment, where Alec buys the first round of drinks for them. He goes with some simple beers, but as long as Louis has a drinking buddy, he’s going to have a little fun. He buys some shots in a style that reminds Alec very much of Jace, and before he knows it, he’s three shots and two beers into the night, and Louis is holding his liquor much better than Alec is.

They find seats at a booth in the back corner, a plate of fries sitting on the table between them, fresh drinks being delivered as they stuff their faces hungrily. Louis has so many questions he wants to ask, and he thinks that he’s finally plied Alec with enough alcohol to get some answers. “Tell me about your ex,” Louis says simply.

Usually Alec would freeze up and keep his mouth shut, stubbornly shutting down the conversation like he’d done the night before, when he hadn’t had enough to drink to be an open book, much to Louis’s chagrin. This time, though… this time Louis was sure he’d get some answers.

And he did. Alec opened his mouth and suddenly stories upon stories started tumbling out, mostly about little dates they went on in Venice or Tokyo or some other exotic location. Alec prattled on and on about how Magnus had known him better than he’d known himself sometimes, and that he’d never felt quite so safe and protected. “He’s the first man I’ve ever loved,” Alec finishes softly.

He downs the last of his beer, and for the first time that night, Louis feels a little guilty for all the drinks they’ve bought and consumed. Alec is clearly hurting, Louis can see that by the look on his face and the twinge of sadness in his voice. “How could he afford to go to all those places?” Louis asks in awe.

“Magic,” Alec replies softly.

Louis doesn’t realize quite how literally Alec means that, and it’s the closest Alec has come to revealing the Shadow World to Louis. The two of them are quiet, drinks finished and food gone, and Alec looks a bit drowsy as they let the lull of glasses clinking and people talking hum them into a calm, peaceful silence.

“What about you?”

Louis looks up, surprised to hear Alec’s voice, to see his intense gaze settled so clearly, so focused upon him all of a sudden.

“What?” Louis asks, caught off guard.

“I told you what I’m running from,” Alec says simply. His words slur just the slightest. “What are  _ you _ running from?”

An immeasurable sadness springs to Louis’s eyes and he wishes like hell he had more alcohol in front of him, to quell the growing ache in his chest at the thought. His hands start to fidget where they lay lazily on the tabletop, and Alec can’t resist reaching over, using one of his large hands to cover both of Louis’s smaller ones.

“My mum died.”

Louis’s voice is barely loud enough to be heard over the thrum of voices in the bar, the shouts as a football game on television becomes more intense. Alec frowns as he watches the way Louis’s eyes grow glassy and his face pales just the slightest. 

“I’m so sorry,” Alec says softly. Louis nods. He doesn’t say a word in reply. “Do you want to go home?” Alec wonders, sensing that Louis is about done with being in public, especially now that he’s dredged up such painful memories. He always forgets until he’s in the moment that Mundanes process the loss of a family member much differently than Shadowhunters. They mourn for days; for Shadowhunters, it’s a part of life.

Nodding again, Louis finds his voice to reply with the faintest, “Yeah.”

Alec doesn’t ask permission, but after he pays for their tab, he walks with Louis back to his apartment down the street. The place feels more familiar, and Alec remembers only now that his bow and quiver are still hanging up in Louis’s room. He wonders how he managed to go a whole day without worrying whether he’d ever get them back.

Louis is uncharacteristically quiet the entire time, though admittedly Alec has only known him about a day. Once inside the apartment, Alec walks with Louis into his bedroom and they kick off their shoes without saying a word. Alec’s hands every so often reach out, drifting over Louis’s back or his arm or his hand, a silent gesture of comfort and apology. He’s not even thinking about it - it’s all instinct.

It’s hot in Louis’s apartment, and Alec thinks to himself that he’d quite like to take off his sweater, but he leaves it so he doesn’t make Louis uncomfortable. The soft glow from his tracking rune is gone - it’s no longer deactivated, yet again - but he doesn’t care. If he was going to be found, Alec is fairly certain it would have happened by now, with or without the rune.

Louis and Alec climb onto the mattress in the corner of the room, and Louis rolls towards Alec, thankful for the comfort. It should be weird, having a near stranger in his room, on his bed, holding him, but something about Alec makes Louis feel safe in a way nobody else has. “I’m sorry,” Alec whispers again.

“Not your fault,” Louis whispers back.

Alec desperately grapples with the situation, trying to figure out what to do. He doesn’t feel like he’s done enough, like he’s properly made up for the pain he’s inadvertently caused to Louis. Very softly, Alec asks, “What can I do to make it better?”

Maybe it’s the alcohol, or maybe it’s his recklessness, but Louis doesn’t hesitate when he looks up. One look into Alec’s eyes tells him it’s okay to say it, to ask for what he’s wanted since they met. 

“Kiss me.”

Taken aback by the request, Alec stares dumbly for a moment and nods, then wraps his arm a little tighter around Louis’s shoulders and leans in. Their lips meet, gently at first, exploring this new person they’re tangled up with. Louis is only the second person Alec has kissed in his life, and it’s astonishing to him that it feels so incredibly different than it had with Magnus. Louis is soft but fiery, his tight grip in Alec’s sweater a heated contrast to the playful way he slots his lips against Alec’s, tongue teasing over Alec’s lower lip.

Using his size to his advantage, Alec sweeps Louis’s body against his own, the kiss quickly growing heated and a little frantic. It’s easier for him to lower his inhibitions after he’s had a few drinks, and he doesn’t feel the slightest bit self-conscious as Louis hooks a leg around one of Alec’s, his hand sliding up underneath Alec’s shirt. 

Alec slides a hand through Louis’s hair, rolling easily when Louis presses him to his back. Louis straddles Alec’s lap easily, and when he pulls away for a breath, Alec stares up, his lips bright red, his hands resting on Louis’s thighs. Louis smiles, and Alec does, too. “It’s hot in here,” Louis says, tugging off his shirt in one swift move.

“Yeah, it is,” Alec agrees, propping himself up on his elbows.

Louis tugs at the hem of Alec’s sweater, pulling it up over his head rather clumsily. Alec’s hair is suddenly a mess, and they’re both flushed and warm, and there’s nothing on their minds but each other. Alec reaches out, hands framing Louis’s face, and their lips meet again. Alec holds Louis on top of him, kissing him hotly, his hands sliding down Louis’s slender frame.

The mood shifts in the air, and both of them are fairly certain they know what’s going to happen next. Alec’s hand drifts over Louis’s hip, along the waistband of his jeans, but nearly leaps out of his skin when there’s a pounding on the door.

“What the -?” Louis mutters, springing away from Alec.

Alec wipes his lower lip with his thumb, watching as Louis scrambles out of the room and towards the door. It’s probably nothing, some stupid neighbor not being careful with their bags or their bike, so Alec waits in the bedroom, a little uncomfortable in his jeans, but definitely excited for Louis to come back.

But then he hears familiar voices and dread fills his stomach. He struggles to get back into his sweater as he walks out the door, the fabric sticking to his skin in a most inconvenient way. “Izzy, why are you --?”

He freezes when he pulls the sweater over his head and sees the scene in front of him, Izzy with her hand on her whip, Clary with her seraph blade pointed at Louis, and Jace with his hand on his own blade, though at least he had the sense to keep the blade sheathed. “Leave him alone,” Alec says firmly. He glares at all of them, even Simon who is cowering in the doorway. “He’s not dangerous, put those away.”

Izzy listens, but Clary looks hesitant. “I mean it,” Alec says to her brusquely.

Once she obeys, Louis looks at Alec with wide eyes. “What the fuck is happening?” he asks.

He’s clearly panicked, and Alec feels terrible for putting Louis in that sort of position. “They’re leaving,” Alec says to Louis, before looking pointedly at the rest of them.

“You’re hanging out with a Mundane?” Jace asks, sounding more surprised than anything.

“Alec, we’ve been so worried,” Izzy adds.

Clary’s hand never leaves the handle of her seraph blade as she asks, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Get out,” Alec says firmly.

“We need you back at the Institute,” Izzy says. “Dad needs you for an assignment. They might reinstate you as Head of the Institute.”

Alec winces. “Now is not the  _ time _ , Izzy.”

Angrily, Izzy asks, “What else were we supposed to do? You stopped answering your phone! You can’t hide in the Mundane world forever.”

“Mundane  _ world _ ? Alec, what the hell are they on about?” Louis asks, fear and confusion evident on his face.

Alec looks at Louis sympathetically and says, “I can explain, just…” 

Jace steps forward and puts his hand on Alec’s shoulder. “Are you sure everything is okay? I mean, you don’t usually talk to Mundanes, or disappear from work like this,” Jace says.

“I’m  _ fine _ ,” Alec insists, his voice firm and curt. He’s angry enough that Louis has been exposed to as much of the Shadow World as he already has.

Once he speaks, Jace’s eyes go wide at the thick smell of alcohol on Alec’s breath. “Are you drunk?” he asks.

Alec huffs. “We got drinks.”

“Alec, tell me what’s going on  _ right now _ ,” Louis demands. “Yesterday… the blood…”

“It was mine,” Alec sighs. “I’m not a dangerous person. You know that.”

Louis shakes his head. “No, I don’t. I know nothing about you, clearly. Whatever this Mundane business is, it’s… insane.”

“Alec won’t hurt you,” Simon says from the doorway. “He’s a good guy.”

“Shut up,” Jace says to Simon over his shoulder. After a second, he looks at Louis and says, “He’s right, though. Alec is harmless.”

Izzy looks at Alec, her expression full of concern. “When you didn’t answer my calls, we got worried. And then last night your tracking rune stopped working when I was halfway here and it scared me,” Izzy says.

“Wait, what’s a tracking rune?” Louis asks.

Alec walks to the doorway and gestures out into the hallway. He doesn’t give anyone an answer to anything. He’s being faced with all the less than perfect decisions he’s made so far, and he is too tired and wound up to clear things up. Louis watches with wide eyes as Izzy’s whip turns back into a bracelet, and he feels unsafe all of a sudden.

Simon, Clary, Jace, and Izzy all stand in the hallway, reluctant to leave. Alec is about to close the door when Louis’s voice behind him makes him freeze in his tracks.

“You should go, too.”

Alec spins around, looking at Louis with confusion and sadness. 

“I don’t know what you are or what’s going on, but I don’t feel safe with you here. So just - go.”

“But -,”

“ _ Go _ , Alec.”

The pain of hearing Louis so scared, so sure of his decision to kick him out, makes Alec hurt all over again. It’s stupid, to be so infatuated with someone so soon after meeting them, but Alec was. Louis gave Alec some happiness back in his life, helped Alec forget about the things that were hurting him and the responsibilities that weighed on his shoulders.

“Fine,” Alec sighs. 

Louis tries to ignore the sadness and betrayal in Alec’s eyes as he turns to leave. Izzy puts a hand on Alec’s arm to try to comfort him, but Alec quickly pulls his arm away. If it wasn’t for them, he and Louis would still be together in his apartment, the world around them completely forgotten.

“Alec, it’s going to be okay,” Clary tries to comfort him.

He fixes her with one of the iciest glares she’s ever seen from him, which is saying a lot. “Let’s go back to the Institute, you can wash up and we’ll get our next mission,” Jace suggests. “It’ll take your mind off of things.”

“No,” Alec says firmly. “I don’t want to talk to you guys right now. I was happy. I was finally starting to forget about Magnus, and about getting fired. But you guys couldn’t trust me.”

“You didn’t tell us where you were going!” Izzy protests.

“I don’t need to!” Alec shouts. “I do not have to answer to  _ any _ of you.” The alcohol makes him bolder than usual, but it feels good for him to let everything out, to get his frustration out in the open and let them know how he feels. “I’ve felt so trapped ever since Magnus broke up with me, because you coddle me like I don’t know how to take care of myself, or how to be alone when I’m hurting. I was  _ fine _ until you guys came along.”

“For the record, I told them this was a bad idea,” Simon says.

Jace glares over his shoulder at Simon. “Whatever,” Alec shakes his head. “Just - go.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?” Clary asks.

Alec glares at her again. “No. I’m not,” he says. “I don’t want to be around any of you right now, and I certainly don’t want anything to do with the Institute right now.”

“But-,” Izzy begins.

“Go.”

Alec doesn’t listen to another word they say, opting instead to sit on a bench outside Louis’s apartment. It’s chilly, but not unbearably so, and hopefully by morning Louis will have cooled off enough to at least let Alec give some sort of explanation. Sitting down on the cold wrought-iron bench, Alec crosses his arms and waits for morning.

*

Sometime well past midnight, Alec falls asleep on the bench. When he wakes up, he’s incredibly sore and feeling no better than he was when he’d first sat down on the bench. He was still irritated with Jace, Clary, Simon, and Izzy, and Louis still feared him. It was almost worse, being feared than being disliked. Knowing Louis was afraid of him hurt in ways Alec couldn’t explain.

There’s a clattering on the sidewalk by Alec’s feet and he sits up to see what’s going on. Louis is standing there, and on the ground lay Alec’s bow and quiver, a few arrows spilled out on the sidewalk. “Not dangerous, huh?”

“Louis -,” Alec says, his voice thick and groggy. He coughs a few times to try to clear his throat and says, “Can we just talk? I can explain.”

Louis crosses his arms, hoping he seems tough, but inside he worried all night, knowing that Alec was on the bench. He’d seen him out his window before going to bed. The rage he felt from feeling so betrayed and lied to was gone now, filled with some guilt and worry that maybe Alec wouldn’t forgive  _ him _ , either. 

“Fine,” Louis sighs.

Louis doesn’t move, even when Alec stands. Awkwardly, Alec gestures at the apartment building and asks, “Can we go back up to yours? I don’t exactly want to talk about this where everyone can hear us.”

Louis’s eyes narrow, but his instincts tell him to let Alec back upstairs, that he’d only ask for the privacy if it was really necessary. That he only would have hidden these secrets about who he is and what he does if it was really important.

Over steaming cups of cheap coffee, Alec tells Louis everything. He explains the Shadow World, the duties of a Shadowhunter, and how he’d come to be bloodied up when they ran into each other on the sidewalk that day. “I can’t show you the tracking rune - the thing that lets other Shadowhunters track where I am - because it’s hard to see without other people around,” Alec says. “But -,” he spots the scrapes on his fingers from the battle the few days before and he says, “I can show you an iratze, though.”

“A what?” Louis asks.

“It’s a healing rune. I could’ve used it on this days ago, but I didn’t want to make you suspicious,” Alec explains. He pulls his stele out of his pocket and lifts the hem of his shirt just enough so that he can trace the stele over a rune on his abdomen. Holding out his injured hand, Alec lets Louis watch as the wound heals itself. 

Louis’s eyes go wide, and he points to the stele in Alec’s hand. “So is that like, your magic wand?”

Alec smiles and shakes his head. “No. I don’t have magic. Not like you’re meaning, at least,” he says. “It’s called a stele. It activates or deactivates runes. These things,” Alec gestures to the shapes and marks that Louis had thought were just tattoos.

“So each of those does something different?” Louis asks.

Nodding, Alec points out a few and tells Louis what they do - things like stamina, healing, and his parabatai rune. Explaining how parabatai bonds work takes the longest, and Louis listens intently the entire time. He asks questions, but for the most part he appears to believe everything Alec is saying. 

“So wait, one of those guys was a vampire?” Louis asks as Alec explains the different types of Downworlders. “How could he get in? I thought they weren’t allowed.”

“He stayed in the hallway,” Alec says. “But I don’t know exactly how all of that works. My sister is the one who dates vampires and seelies.”

“You just dated the warlock,” Louis fills in the blanks. Alec nods. Louis looks amused and says, “And here I thought you were joking when you said he took you to all those places by magic.”

Alec shakes his head and laughs just a little. “No. Literal magic,” he replies.

Louis points to Alec’s bow and arrow where they lay on the floor by the sofa. “And those? Are you cupid or something?” Louis jokes.

Alec, not catching the joke, says, “No, it’s just that’s my best weapon, so I -,”

“Alec, relax,” Louis laughs. “I’m just having a go at you. I think it’s cool.”

Cheeks flushed red, Alec asks, “Really?”

Nodding, Louis says, “Yeah. Very chivalric. Old school. I like it.”

They’re quiet, and for a moment Alec feels much more relaxed than he had before. It’s just that he doesn’t know where to go from this place they’re at now. They’re still near perfect strangers. “So - what were they talking about, with you being the Head of something?”

Alec sighs. He’d left that part out, hoping Louis wouldn’t remember. Unfortunately, he had, and now that he’s finally being open and honest with him, he can’t bring himself to try to hide it. “So, major cities have these places called Institutes, where the Shadowhunters can stay and train and be on hand with weapons, ready in case there’s a demon attack,” Alec explains. “And every Institute has a leader. They delegate tasks, make big decisions, and now, they also hold meetings with Downworlder leaders, to try to keep the peace. Or they did. I don’t think my dad still is. But I did.”

“But you’re not Head of the Institute anymore?” Louis asks, frowning.

Shaking his head, Alec says, “No. Valentine - this guy who basically wants to kill all Downworlders to purify the world - he escaped. On my watch. So, I was punished by being fired as Head of the Institute. My dad tried to save me, but it didn’t work. They placed him in charge instead.”

“So… the vampire friend of yours… he could die if this guy takes power?” Louis asks. “And this is stuff humans have just never picked up on?”

Alec sighs and nods. “He’s already sort of succeeded. There’s this thing called a Soul Sword, and if someone with pure angel blood activates it, whatever Shadowhunter wields it, they can kill any Downworlder in its path. And that’s what Valentine did, inside the Institute. All the vampires, seelies, and werewolves that were fighting off his followers… they all died.”

“So this is like… bad. Really bad. Does he still have the weapon?” Louis asks.

Nodding, Alec says, “He does, but you don’t have to worry. You’re safe. He doesn’t care about Mundanes.”

“Why do you call us Mundanes?” Louis wonders.

Shrugging, Alec says, “I don’t know where the term originated from, honestly. But… if I had to guess, I’d say it had something to do with the fact that in comparison to the stuff we do daily - fighting, training, saving other races - everything you guys do is pretty mundane.”

“But we lose people the same way you do. We go to work, sometimes even in dangerous places,” Louis argues.

“I get that,” Alec nods. “I don’t think  _ you’re _ mundane. But I think a lot of people  _ like _ you are. Or they’re just plain ignorant. Or take their humanity and their safety for granted.”

“Mundanes have their own problems,” Louis argues. “Terrorists. Racism. All of that.”

“I’m not saying you guys don’t,” Alec says simply. “Like I said, I didn’t come up with the term.”

“The blonde guy made it sound like you didn’t like us, though.”

Louis has a point, and that makes Alec really stop and think. Why did he hate Mundanes so much? They asked him banal questions or did the most boring things, day in and day out. He saw no joy, no benefit to being a Mundane. At least, he didn’t, until he’d lost everything in the span of a few short days. Then it seemed like the best option. “I didn’t,” Alec says finally, feeling that it’s best to be honest.

“What happened?”

Alec fights the way his mouth turns up at the corners, like he’s about to smile. “It’s so stupid and cliche,” he says.

Louis crosses his arms. “Why are you so against being a little cliche?” he challenges. “Is it because of me? Did I make you like Mundanes?”

“I still don’t like all Mundanes,” Alec argues. “But…” he’s quiet for a moment, “I  _ do _ like you.”

Louis studies Alec, his arms still crossed. His mood turns a little defensive, and he asks, “Am I just a rebound?”

“A what?”

Alec isn’t well versed in anything relating to relationships, and he feels a bit dumb for it, at his age. Thankfully, Louis doesn’t laugh before he explains, “A rebound. Someone you hook up with after a bad breakup just to take your mind off things. It’s a relationship that usually doesn’t last.”

“That’s not what I want,” Alec says. “That’s not how I date.”

“So you’d want to date me?”

“We’ve had a date already, haven’t we?”

Louis’s expression brightens. “I don’t think yesterday should count. We didn’t agree that it was a date before we went on it.”

“That’s a rule?” Alec asks.

Louis’s smile turns to fondness. “You haven’t dated much, have you?”

Alec looks sheepish and doesn’t answer. Louis’s smile just grows.

Louis convinces Alec to charge his phone that afternoon, and as they sit around talking more about the Shadow World, Alec wonders what happens next. He’s never dated someone as laid back as Louis, someone who doesn’t necessarily just push or ask for what he wants the way Magnus did. Alec sends a text to Izzy saying he’s staying with Louis again, but she’s unsatisfied. After a few back and forth text messages with Izzy, Louis asks, “What is the matter? You look super pissed off all of a sudden.”

“Izzy. She’s trying to get me to go back to the Institute,” Alec explains.

“Why don’t you?”

Alec frowns. “I don’t know. I guess I just don’t want to see everyone. Whenever they look at me, they’re either incredibly happy, or they pity me,” he says. “There were people who didn’t want me to be Head of the Institute, and they’re not afraid to let me know that.”

“If politics and being in charge is what you’ve been training for, you can’t run away from it just because of one bad thing that happened,” Louis says softly. He scoots closer to Alec on the sofa, dropping one hand to his thigh. “Politics is not all sunshine and roses. It’s going to be hard, and you’re going to fuck up. What matters is whether you chin up and press on, or just give up.”

“Since when are you an expert on politics?” Alec wonders, dropping his arm to drape around Louis’s waist. 

“I’m not,” Louis shrugs. “But it’s the same sort of thing my mum always used to tell me when I’d try for roles in school plays, or the one time I tried out for the X-Factor and didn’t make it.”

“What’s the X-Factor?” Alec asks.

“Singing competition on the telly. Not really important,” Louis says quickly. “What’s important is you getting back to work.” Playfully, he puts his hand on Alec’s stomach and says, “You’ve been out of training for three days. I can tell. Your six pack is starting to disappear.”

Not catching on to Louis’s playfulness, Alec lifts his shirt to take a look. Louis bursts out laughing, and then kisses Alec before he can protest. Alec finds he doesn’t mind at all.

*

The next morning, Louis resolutely decides what they’re doing with their day, and isn’t going to give Alec the option of saying no. He puts on some coffee, takes a shower, and pours the coffee into travel mugs as he listens to Alec humming to himself in the shower. He’s a decent singer. Alec emerges looking fresh and clean, brighter than he had when they’d first met. Louis braces himself for losing the sight of a happy Alec, because he’s about to say something that could ruin the mood. He hands Alec the travel mug of coffee and waits, to see if he notices.

“Are we going somewhere?”

Louis nods. “Yeah. We are.”

“Another tourist day?” Alec asks eagerly.

“Nope,” Louis shakes his head. He looks solemn as he says, “You need to stop running away from your problems. You’re going back to the Institute.”

Alec’s expression grows dark and cloudy, and he furrows his brows. “No. I’m not.”

“I’ll drag you there if I have to,” Louis says simply. “I want to see it, and you need to face up to everything. I don’t date quitters.”

There are a lot of things that rush into Alec’s mind, the biggest of which is the fact that Louis just said the word  _ date _ . Like they’re a  _ couple _ . He sort of thought so, but they’d never fully made it official, not really. Maybe this is just what dating is, and being with Magnus was an out of the ordinary experience. Alec’s mind reels with all sort of different things he could say, but he doesn’t end up saying anything at all. He just nods and decides that this is it: he’s about to bring a Mundane into the Institute.

“Alright. Let’s go,” he nods.

He slings his quiver and bow around his shoulders, and then uses a glamour to hide them. Louis’s eyes go wide, having never seen such a thing before. Alec blushes, but Louis doesn’t shirk away or seem afraid, so Alec counts it as a victory. 

Alec leads Louis through the city with half a mind to get them “lost” and delay their arrival at the institute. He doesn’t want to upset or disappoint Louis, though, so he stays on track. They reach the Institute, and Louis stares with wide eyes as its decrepit exterior that only Mundanes can see starts to slowly drift away. It’s the most high-tech cathedral Louis has ever seen, and he can’t stop staring as Alec leads Louis through the entryway and into the command center where Izzy, Jace, and Clary stand looking at a diagram.

“So what’d I miss?” Alec asks as he approaches.

Everyone in the room looks up at the sound of his voice, and Izzy beams as she rushes towards him to give him a hug. Jace looks pleased, and then notices Louis standing behind Alec. “You brought a Mundane to the Institute?” Jace asks incredulously.

Alec stands a little taller and looks like he’s bracing himself before he says, “Yes. I did. We talked about it and he wanted to see it. It was the least I could do.”

“No, it’s fine,” Jace says, glancing at Louis and then back to Alec. “I just… this is new.”

Though he thinks he knows what Jace is getting at, Alec doesn’t want to ask for clarification. He doesn’t want anything to go wrong. This is important, Louis seeing the Institute and the place where Alec grew up, the place he wants to run again one day. Alec glances over his shoulder at Louis to see how he’s adjusting, and he’s pleasantly surprised to see that Louis looks rather relaxed. “These are your weapons?” he asks, glancing over to a wall stacked with seraph blades.

“Yeah,” Alec explains, wandering behind Louis until he catches up to him and stands by his side. His hand drifts to Louis’s waist without thinking, and Jace and Izzy share a glance behind their back at the sight of it.

There’s a loud crash behind them, and without hesitation, Alec grabs a blade off the shelf to hold up, even if he still has his bow and quiver on his back. Clary, Jace, and Izzy all have their blades at the ready, too, and moments later Sebastian and Valentine come storming in, an army of Forsaken behind them. 

Alec steps to stand a little further in front of Louis, who’s staring at the Forsaken in terror. “Remember how I said we can’t put runes on Mundanes?” Alec says over his shoulder. Louis nods. “That’s what happens if you do.”

“Fuck.”

Louis looks pale, but he doesn’t cower behind Alec. Jace and Clary are already battling some Forsaken, and Izzy is trying to face off with Sebastian. Alec is staying shockingly calm, and Louis wishes he had that same sort of composure and bravery. He’s faced off in school plays and in little playground scuffles, but nothing like this. “Louis, I need you to go down the hall. Get out of here. Don’t worry about where, I’ll find you when this is done,” Alec says. 

“No, I’m not going to run away,” Louis says stubbornly, though his voice trembles just the slightest. He and Alec don’t notice that Sebastian spots them during the exchange, his curiosity piqued at the sound of another British accent. “I’m not a damsel in distress.”

“Louis, now is not the time to be brave,” Alec says. “They could tear you limb from limb.”

“I can fight!” Louis insists.

He doesn’t see Sebastian approaching from the side, and neither does Alec. Alec is focused on the Forsaken that is approaching faster than he’s comfortable with. Alec goes in with the blade, fighting off the Forsaken so he can’t get to Louis. 

“My my my,” Sebastian says with amusement. He steps coolly up to Louis. “I’ve somehow been usurped from the position of sole Englishman in the building.”

“Louis, don’t listen to him,” Alec warns. It’s the only way he can tell Louis that Sebastian is  _ not _ a good guy, English charm be damned.

“I’m Sebastian Verlac,” he continues, offering out his hand to Louis. 

Louis stares at his hand for a moment, but then the memory of the stories Alec told him comes back to him and he realizes why the name sounds familiar. He recognizes what shaking this man’s hand could mean - he could be put in a very, very vulnerable position. “You’re not fooling anyone,” Louis hisses, before reaching over to the weapons wall and grabbing the nearest seraph blade.

He’s scrappy and a bit small, and certainly not well trained in wielding a sword, but he does what he can in defense as Sebastian begins to fight him, angered that Louis wasn’t willing to greet him politely. “Louis, what are you doing!?” Alec shouts as he pushes over a Forsaken he’s just slayed.

“I do believe your new boy toy,” Sebastian says, before aiming a kick at Louis’s gut, sending him flying across the floor, “thinks he’s a match for me.” Sebastian turns his attention now to Alec, who doesn’t lower his seraph blade. “A  _ disgusting _ mundane. Honestly, Alec, I knew your taste in men was terrible, what with you first dating a Downworlder, but now a Mundane? You have managed to sink to a new low.” Sebastian smirks at the pure anger and venom clear on Alec’s face. 

Their intense stare doesn’t break, that is until Louis swings a leg out and sends Sebastian flying to the floor. Now Sebastian’s anger is yet again focused on Louis, who’s getting to his feet, blade back in his hand. “Now you’ve gone and made me angry, Mundane. You won’t like me when I’m angry,” Sebastian warns, his eyes flashing black for a brief moment before returning to sparkling steely blue.

Louis swings the blade around haphazardly, trying to do whatever he can to injure Sebastian. Alec wards off another Forsaken making its way towards them, and Jace joins him quickly when it appears that the Forsaken are being drawn towards Sebastian, summoned to his defense. “Is that what I looked like when I first became a Shadowhunter?” Clary asks nobody in particular.

Alec, ever the honest one, glances over his shoulder to answer her simply: “Worse.”

He’s impressed with Louis’s sword-wielding abilities, if he’s being honest, but he’ll probably never say that to Louis out of fear that he’d encourage him to try this sort of thing again. It’s so, so stupid to jump into battle when he could die, when every evil thing in the room was focused on killing him. And yet at the same time, Alec is wildly impressed. Were the tables turned, he probably wouldn’t have done the same.

In a move that nobody sees coming, Sebastian tackles Louis down to the floor and presses the blade to Louis’s throat. Louis’s eyes go wide and he doesn’t dare glance away at Alec, for fear of what Sebastian might do. “I tried to be kind, but you weren’t having it,” Sebastian says, his voice sickeningly low and venomous. “Was it worth it? Defending your new boyfriend? I’ll bet he hasn’t even slept with you, yet. He seems like the virginal  type. So it was all for nothing. You got  _ nothing _ from him. Poor, poor Mundane boy.”

“Leave him alone,” Jace warns.

“Or what? You’ll -,” 

In a blazing flash of blue light, Sebastian goes flying against the wall and Louis starts gasping for air, a small line of crimson blood smeared against his neck. 

“Get him out of here, Alexander.”

Alec glances over his shoulder to see Magnus standing there, one arm outstretched as he keeps Sebastian pinned to the wall. 

“Hurry!” Magnus urges. “I can’t hold him for long.”

Alec glances at Jace, then Izzy, then Clary, and they all nod. They’ve got this from here. With the Forsaken dead and the werewolf pack outside with Valentine, the rest of them can deal with Sebastian. Alec fumbles to help Louis stand, and he practically drags him through the halls of the Institute and away from Sebastian. 

When they reach Alec’s room, Alec wraps Louis up into a tight, stifling embrace. “That was so stupid, Louis. So stupid,” he says.

Louis is panting, still out of breath from having the blade against his throat, now paired with the rushing they did up the stairs and down the hall. He clutches Alec’s shirt and tries to comprehend everything that just happened. 

When Louis doesn’t speak, Alec worriedly leans away to get a good look at him. Louis is sweaty, and there’s a line of blood spread thinly across his neck, and he’s got a slice clear through the side of his shirt where he’s got a slightly deeper gash there. “Come here. We need to get you cleaned up.”

“I’m alright,” Louis breathes.

Alec shakes his head. There is no way Louis is going to actually want to date him after this, so he knows he just has to try his very best to draw out their last few moments together, regrettable as they may be, with Alec patching up Louis’s injuries. 

Alec gently helps Louis out of his shirt and then onto the bed. He disappears into his en suite to get a cloth and some bandages, and when he returns, Louis looks tired, but he’s smiling. “The tables have turned,” he says. Even his voice sounds exhausted.

“What do you mean?” Alec asks as he gently uses the cloth to dab at the blood first at Louis’s neck, and then along his side.

Louis hisses at the pain, but relaxes when Alec dabs the cloth a little more gently. “When we first met… I was cleaning the blood off of you from some battle or other. And now look at us.”

He smiles a little, and Alec can’t fight his smile in return. He really shouldn’t be pleased about any of this, and certainly doesn’t want to encourage Louis to do something like that ever again, but at the same time… Louis had been incredibly impressive out there, fighting off a very powerful Shadowhunter. 

“That was so stupid of you,” Alec reminds Louis. “So, so stupid.”

Louis smirks. “But I was good.”

“Irrelevant,” Alec replies.

He pointedly avoids Louis’s eyes, because he’s failing at fighting a smile, and Louis knows it. As Alec cleans up Louis’s wound, Louis reaches out to cup Alec’s cheek in his hand. “I’m not afraid of this, you know,” he says softly.

Confused, Alec looks up at Louis. He doesn’t understand what that’s supposed to mean. 

His voice gentle, Louis explains, “I can’t promise I won’t ever do that again. If something is coming at me, I’m going to fight.” He takes a breath. “But I’m not afraid of this world. Of who you are.” Alec quirks an eyebrow. “I want to keep seeing you,” Louis finishes.

Alec smiles and shakes his head, looking back down at Louis’s side. He lays some gauze over the gash and tapes it on, doing every ministration with the utmost care. 

“I can’t compete with that warlock ex-boyfriend of yours, but… I like to think I’m a decent person to be around,” Louis says simply, watching Alec closely to see if this is really what  _ he  _ wants, or if this is where they part ways.

“You’re way more than just a  _ decent person _ , Louis,” Alec replies. He sets the cloth aside and walks around to the other side of the bed. He climbs up to sit next to Louis, who curls towards him instinctively. “And I don’t want you to compete with Magnus. You two are completely different people. I would never compare you.”

“You will,” Louis replies simply, a twinge of sadness in his voice. “But I’ll forgive you for that.”

Alec kisses the top of Louis’s head and tries like hell to fight the tiredness settling into his bones. Louis doesn’t fight it, and falls asleep within minutes. Alec decides not to fight it either, and drifts off to sleep right there on his own bed, Louis in his arms.

*

When Louis wakes, he forgets where he is for a moment,and takes in the feeling of a comfortable bed and warm arms around him. Slowly his memories of the last twenty-four hours come back to him, and he finds himself at odds. He’d said that he didn’t mind all of this, but he was sore from the gash in his side and he feared having to defend himself like that again. And yet - Alec was the most intriguing man he’d met in a long time. He was a little detached, and certainly quirky, but he was fiercely loyal and protective, and Louis liked that.

Alec’s voice is thick and groggy as he looks over and says, “Hey.”

Louis curls closer to him and whispers, “Hi.”

Alec kisses the top of Louis’s head and doesn’t ask for more conversation. He’s too tired, and he knows that there are a lot of way the conversation could go, especially in an unpleasant direction. Louis drapes an arm around Alec’s waist and he mutters, “I wish I had one of those ira-key things you were talking about…”

“Iratze?” Alec corrects. Louis nods. “Your side hurt?” Alec asks. “I bet we could ask Clary or Simon for like… medicine. They probably still know where to get some.”

“I’m okay,” Louis whispers. “I just wish I was already healed.”

Alec chuckles. “Yeah, well, as you can see, having these abilities comes at a price,” he says.

“You could have died,” Louis agrees.

“And you could have, too,” Alec counters.

Louis looks up at Alec and wonders if he’s in trouble. On the one hand, what he did was totally irresponsible. But on the other hand… what choice did he have? He was being attacked. He could have run, but that’s never been his style. “I’m sorry I worried you, but I’m not sorry I fought,” Louis says simply.

Alec senses that reasoning with Louis would be futile, that he’s just the sort of person who’d charge into a battle like that, completely ill-equipped for it. “Okay,” Alec says finally, resigning himself to Louis’s stubbornness and bravery. It’s more than he would have ever expected from a Mundane, so he can’t bring himself to be bothered by it.

Louis smiles and echoes, “Okay.”

He lays his head on Alec’s chest and even though they’re awake, they lay there in silence for a little bit. Out in the hallway, Izzy stands by the stairs, looking at Magnus. “I’m sorry if he’s hurt you,” she says softly, so Alec and Louis don’t accidentally hear. “I didn’t expect him to move on so quickly.”

Magnus smiles, sadness in his eyes. “I did,” he says. “And maybe it’s for the better.”

“You think Alec dating a Mundane is better than him dating you?” she asks in surprise.

Shrugging, Magnus confesses, “Maybe now he’ll stop fixating on my age, my exes, and my immortality.”

“I didn’t think those things mattered to him,” Izzy says, tilting her head in question.

“They matter more than he wants to admit,” Magnus replies. “Besides… now that he’s confident in who he is and what he wants…” Magnus trails off. He feels so lucky to have been able to date Alec, to get to know him, to show him these wonderful parts of himself that he’d been hiding away for so long.

Izzy reaches out to give Magnus a hug, and she says, “It was very kind of you to save Louis.”

“Is that his name?” Magnus asks in interest, surprised and pleased by the hug. Izzy nods. “Anyone who makes Alexander happy is worthy of saving.”

Izzy leans away to smile at Magnus. She looks sad as well, but is trying her best to have faith in her brother, and that he’s doing what’s best for himself and his happiness. “I won’t be the vindictive ex, don’t you worry,” Magnus says, though Izzy had never worried about that in the first place. “Tell them both that I’m glad they’re okay, alright?”

Nodding, Izzy says, “I will. Thank you, Magnus. For everything.”

“Your brother is a special man,” Magnus nods. “In all my years, I’ve never met anyone quite like him.”

The sentiment is sweet, and while Izzy wishes she could say more to Magnus to try to cheer him up, she doesn’t. Before she can even open her mouth, Magnus is spinning on his heel and leaving the Institute, leaving Izzy alone in the hallway. As she walks to her room, she peeks in through Alec’s cracked door. She smiles as she sees Alec and Louis lying together on the bed, slowly drifting in and out of sleep. They look happy, and it puts her at ease.

Louis and Alec roll out of bed a couple of hours later, when Louis is itching for a cigarette and Alec trusts he’s alright to walk around outside and not fall over from his injury. Louis looks happy, but exhausted, and kisses Alec on the cheek before he walks down the stairs and out the doors of the Institute.

He still can’t believe this world he’s stumbled upon, all because he ran into Alec on the sidewalk and was infatuated at first sight. It was the stupidest thing he’s probably ever done, and he has no idea how dangerous life could be now that Alec is in it. Louis is caught up in his thoughts, shivering a little in the cold, when someone clears their throat behind him. Louis exhales the smoke from his lungs into the chilly air, and turns around to see the blonde boy who’d barged in on them in his apartment just a few days ago. “Jace,” he says, holding out his hand.

“Louis,” replies Louis, holding out the hand that isn’t holding a cigarette.

“Does Alec know you do that?” Jace wonders.

Louis shrugs. “I think so. It’s not like I lit up right in front of his face, though,” he answers.

Chuckling, Jace shakes his head and says, “You’re an interesting guy.”

“Because I smoke?”

“Because you’re a Mundane who went head to head with a demon and didn’t  _ die _ ,” Jace corrects. “That’s impossible. We exist to protect people like you from things like them.”

Louis shakes his head. “It was dumb luck.”

“It was strength and bravery,” Jace says. “Alec deserves someone strong like you.”

Louis gets a slightly sad look on his face and says, “It sounded to me like Magnus was awfully strong, too.”

“He had his weaknesses.”

“I do too. Everyone does. Even you.”

Jace’s jaw sets and he looks Louis over for a moment. He’s not used to someone who can argue back so easily. Louis is fiery, and that seems like a good fit for Alec. “True, but I prefer not to let mine show,” Jace counters.

Louis snorts. “It’s the ginger girl in there. The really annoying one. She’s your weakness. That was obvious from the first second I saw you lot.”

“Clary isn’t annoying.”

With a blank stare, Louis looks at Jace and doesn’t say a word.

“Alright, fine,” Jace sighs. “I’m apparently the only one in this world or any other world who doesn’t find her annoying, but…”

“...she’s your weakness,” Louis finishes for him. Jace just nods.

Looking rather pleased with himself, Louis stamps out the butt of the cigarette with the heel of his worn out sneakers and says, “So, is this the part where you tell me not to hurt him?”

“No, why?”

“That’s why you came out here, isn’t it?”

Jace studies Louis for a moment, thinking over how he wants to phrase what he’s about to say. Finally, he takes a breath and says, “I came here to thank you, actually. For picking him back up. Magnus really hurt him.”

Louis smiles a little and shakes his head. “I was selfish, really. Literally ran into him on the street and invited him to my place, like a total slag,” Louis laughs. “The minute I saw him, and his bloody attractive eyes, I knew I needed to know him. I was being selfish and vain.”

“Hey, sometimes being like that works out.”

Louis snorts. “I’m sure you know all about that, don’t you?”

“I’m trying to be nice here,” Jace reminds Louis. Louis rolls his eyes and crosses his arms to try to warm himself up. Louis doesn’t know what to say, but thankfully Jace say something more. “Thanks for cheering Alec up. I mean it.”

Louis remembers what Alec was saying about their parabatai bond and how close those two were, and it really meant a lot to him that Jace was thanking him now, for taking care of someone so special to him. “You’re welcome,” Louis nods, a smile playing on his lips.

Then Jace grins like the Cheshire cat and says, “Now go inside. I have no doubt Alec will cuddle you and warm you back up.”

Louis blushes furiously but doesn’t hesitate to do exactly as Jace suggested. He goes inside and up to Alec’s room, and happily climbs back into bed with him. Just as Jace said, Alec wraps Louis into a massive cuddle as soon as Louis is within reach. “You were gone for a while,” Alec observes as he rubs his hand along Louis’s arm to try to warm him up.

“Yeah, sorry,” Louis replies awkwardly. He glances up at Alec. “I was talking to Jace.”

“Oh?”

Alec looks a little worried, so Louis tries to make him feel better by saying, “It wasn’t anything bad, I promise! He was thanking me, actually.”

“For what?” Alec asks.

Louis smiles fondly; Alec can be so oblivious sometimes. “For making you happy again.”

“He did not.”

“He did!” Louis insisted. “He acts so tough and then gets so sappy in his conversations. It’s hilarious, honestly. I even got him to admit that Clary is the annoying one.”

Alec snorted. “How did you do that?”

“Well, I called her the annoying one and he knew who I was talking about.”

Alec looks amused and rather proud. “I mean, in your defense, she is  _ very _ annoying. But she’s grown on me,” Alec confesses. “She’ll grow on you, too. I’ve learned to just not be her best friend. Just… be civil. Keep a safe distance. Then she’s not so bad.”

Louis laughs and says, his voice a bit dreamy, “You say that like I’ll be sticking around for a while.”

“Won’t you?” Alec asks. He looks a bit alarmed.

“Do you want me to?” Louis counters. What he wants more than anything is for Alec to just say what he wants, and to maybe ask him out.

“Well, yeah,” Alec says simply. “I mean, I wouldn’t have brought you here unless I wanted this to happen.”

“What do you mean,  _ this _ ?” Louis asks.

“Dating,” explains Alec, a little exasperated now. “I want us to be boyfriends.”

Louis can sense that Alec is getting irritated with the conversation, and he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t at least a little bit cute. “You haven’t asked me yet,” Louis teases.

“By the Angel, you’re making me work for it,” Alec rolls his eyes. “Not fair.” That just makes Louis smile even bigger, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Alec sighs, like he’s been incredibly inconvenienced, and says, “Fine, Louis. Will you be my boyfriend?”

“Only if you’ll be mine,” Louis smirks.

“That’s sort of implied,” Alec replies, not really catching the joke.

Louis laughs and leans in for a kiss, hoping that it pushes away any frustration Alec may still feel after Louis teased him so mercilessly. Thankfully, it does the trick, as Louis can tell by the feel of Alec’s smile against his own. He hooks a leg over one of Alec’s and rolls on top of him in Alec’s bed, laughing ever so slightly at the clumsiness of his movements.

“Are we doing this?” Alec whispers, grinning as he looks up at Louis.

“We are  _ definitely _ doing this,” Louis responds happily.

He presses into a kiss, the whole room growing hotter. Alec reaches out, his long, deft fingers dancing over Louis’s hips. He lets one hand drift to the small of Louis’s back and down his spine, making Louis gasp and arch his back ever so slightly. Alec holds Louis’s hips so he can roll them over, and when he does, Louis hisses and the heat of the moment is gone. “Sorry,” Alec says timidly, holding up his hands like he’s under arrest.

Disheveled and a little disappointed, Louis looks up at Alec and says, “It’s alright. Just…” His fingers drift over the gauze taped to the gash on his side from fighting with Sebastian and the Forsaken.

“We have time,” Alec reassures him, laying down on the bed next to him once more. 

Louis groans with frustration, and Alec smiles. Louis is cute when he whines, at least for now, when they’re in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. “Soon,” Alec promises, leaning in to kiss Louis’s temple. “We’ll get there. We have all the time in the world.”


End file.
